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Tag: duke

The GingerSnap’s review This book was exactly what I needed this weekend while I was stuck on the couch with a cold. It’s heart-warming, full of good, honest characters, and will have you rooting for HEAs all around. I devoured it in two sittings and kind of wish I could just read it from the beginning again. Edgar Rochester is a classic grumposaurus, feelings-averse workaholic who doesn’t know how to person when he finds himself suddenly thrust into the role of father to his two vivacious twins, Adele and Michel, after the death of their mother, his former mistress. Adele and Michel are insanely bright and creative kids, but their energy and previous lack of boundaries mean they don’t understand how to fit into their new aristocratic world after a childhood spent frolicking on the beaches of France. Thankfully, Mari Perkins, whose name is suspiciously close to Marry Poppins (and […]

The GingerSnap’s review I tried. I really tried. I tried to read this whole book, but 40% in, I had to DNF. The reasons? There are so many. Number one: The entire time I was reading this book, I felt like I was missing some piece of the puzzle. This book is the first in the “Difficult Dukes” series, but there are so many off-handed references or hints to things the Dukes had said or done previously that I felt left out like I wasn’t privy to some aspects of the characters’ lives, which made it hard to really get into the story. Number two: The heroine, Olympia, is described in the book synopsis as “bookish, bespectacled”, which is problematic in and of itself because this description is used to contrast the gorgeousness of her soon-to-be husband, which is so not feminist, and we all know that being bookish and […]

The GingerSnap’s review I think of Eloisa James as one of the queens of the regency romance genre, which also happens to be my all-time favourite romance sub-genre, so you can bet I was excited to pick up her latest book. The story follows the romance between Willa, a society darling just finishing her first very successful season, and Alaric, an adventurous aristocrat just back from travelling around the world. Alaric is a famous author whose travels have been made into a bawdy play that has made much of his intrepid and supposedly rather rakish nature, which leads Willa to be cautious in her interactions with him. One thing I loved about this book was the role reversal; Alaric is the emotive, passionate character, while Willa is cautious, reserved, and cerebral, completely dismantling the idea that women have to be the emotional partner in a relationship. I also loved that Willa […]

The Faerie Queen’s review This novella was a surprisingly good read! It started out a bit weird, but then I got into it. At 120 pages, it’s very quick, and as you can imagine, things don’t get as developed as they could. I could have actually read a full version of this, but then I also loved how easy it was to get through. I could just enjoy it without getting too bogged down. I was also not feeling too great when I started it, but because it was quick and light, it was a great pick-me-up. The story is told over twelve chapters and swaps narration between Adriana, a “governess”, and Alexander, a duke. Adriana is quite scrappy but very caring underneath it all, while Alexander is your typical brooding hero. After discovering that Adriana isn’t who she says she is, Alexander threatens to throw her out on Christmas […]

The Faerie Queen’s review Talk about a slow burn. This book made me wait. I’ll admit that I am not the most patient with books, and I did find this really difficult in the middle, but I’m glad I stuck it out because the last 30% was worth it. I don’t really read historical romance, but it’s a very popular subgenre of romance, so I naturally have to try a book every now and then. I find that it can be a bit OTT with the language of the time, and the last one I tried reading for review basically took a bunch of Austen characters, gave them new names, and threw them into a different historical setting. Yes, there are commonalities that are acceptable across the genre, but there should also be originality. And I think that’s why I made it through The Duke when I haven’t been able to with other […]